YOUTH BASEBALL: Waynesboro Construction wins WYL championship

Now they can celebrate. A day after being foiled in their attempt to sweep Moose Club in the Waynesboro Youth League championship series, players from Waynesboro Construction hoisted the trophy after a tense 4-2 victory in Game 4 Wednesday night at Clayton South field.

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By Lee Goodwin

Waynesboro Record Herald - Waynesboro, PA

By Lee Goodwin

Posted Jun. 20, 2013 at 10:00 AM

By Lee Goodwin
Posted Jun. 20, 2013 at 10:00 AM

WAYNESBORO — Now they can celebrate.

A day after being foiled in their attempt to sweep Moose Club in the Waynesboro Youth League championship series, players from Waynesboro Construction hoisted the trophy after a tense 4-2 victory in Game 4 Wednesday night at Clayton South field.

And, boy, did this series come close to a Game 5.

After the game, Waynesboro Construction manager Dan McCleaf, who was showered with cold water from the Gatorade bucket by players after the game, summarized the game in one word: “Relief.”

“Moose played us tough,” he said. “Alex (Miller) came through with a good outing and pitching out of trouble. I knew (Moose) wasn’t going to let us walk away with it.”

In point of fact, Moose came oh so close to at least forcing extra innings, if not winning. Trailing by two runs in the bottom of the sixth, Moose showed why it averted a sweep when it put two batters on base with two outs. Zachary Crider laid down a beautiful bunt and outran the throw for a single. Then, Tobiah Walizer, who had three hits in the game, doubled to put runners on second and third. But Miller, who struck out eight batters and walked none, struck out the next batter to end the game and send Wacco players into a joyful celebration near the team’s dugout.

“We got our pitcher some runs to work with, and he made some outstanding pitches,” said McCleaf of Miller, who also won Game 1 of the series. “They have some of the best hitters in the league.”

Moose outhit Waynesboro Construction 9-5, including two doubles by Walizer. Moose left nine runners on base.

“We had our chances to win,” said Moose manager Troy Witte. “It was a very good game — good pitching, good hitting and good defense.”

The hero of the game had to be Wacco shortstop Paxton Shatzer, who launched a one-out, 2-run home run to center field in the fourth inning to provide a three-run cushion.

Each team traded a run before Construction took a 2-1 lead in the third inning. Cole Stouffer made it all the way to third base on a two-out error. After a walk to Owen McCleaf, Miller was the beneficiary of another miscue that allowed Stouffer to cross home plate for the run.

Moose almost got out of the inning without a scratch as first baseman Ethan Saunders and third baseman Walizer teamed up for a 3-5 double play.

Moose kept within arm’s reach despite allowing seven base runners during the final two innings.

— In the fifth, Walizer fired a strike to catcher Nick McDermott to tag out a Wacco runner at the plate. Walizer made a nice scoop and throw for the final out of the inning after starting pitcher Hunter Brown struck out a batter and Wacco got base runners on with an infield hit (McCleaf) and a fiedler’s choice (Miller).

Page 2 of 2 - — In the sixth, Construction couldn’t convert a golden opportunity into runs as Brown pitched his way out of a bases-loaded jam. Maloy threw to Walizer for a force out for the first out of the inning. With the bases loaded, Maloy snagged a line drive and Saunders caught a pop up to end the inning.

Meanwhile, Miller had some troubles of his own, which ended with the winning pitcher breathing a sigh of relief.

— In the bottom of the first, the first three hitters got on base, including a double by Walizer, a single from Maloy an error allowing McDermott to reach second. With runners on second and third, Miller fanned back to back batters and after a hit batsman loaded the bases, Miller ended the threat with another strikeout.

— In the bottom of the third, the Wacco defense recorded consecutive force outs to eliminate two potential runs from being scored. The inning ended with runners on first and third.

— In the bottom of the fourth, Moose staged a two-out rally when Crider singled, advanced to second on a Walizer single, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a base hit by Maloy to make the score 4-2. Shatzer made a nice play on a sharp ground ball to throw out the next batter and end the inning.

While Shatzer had the highlight moment of the game, there was no doubt the bottom of the sixth put some gray hairs on even the players.

“It’s always tough (being the away team), knowing they could win it in the bottom of the sixth,” McCleaf said. “You’re never sure of a win.”